Wednesday, 14 April 2010

Where have you been camping? The Eighties?

Do you ever get the feeling that you're stuck in a time warp? I do. It even affects the way I take photos. But then, when the results are this good, who cares? This weekend my family and I took our beloved camper, Pootle, for the first camping trip of the season. As soon as the sun came out we packed him up with food, duvets and wine and spluttered off for Stithians Lake in Cornwall.

If we'd bought a modern camper we'd have been there before the sun set but, seeing as Pootle is a 1981 VW T25 with a top speed of about 65-ish, we got there with just enough light to throw up a tent, plug in the electric and cook some easy camper van nosh. (In case you were wondering it was the pasta with artichokes, olives and mozarella. D-lish.)

So why do we do it? Why drive a classic VW? Why bother with no mod cons? We don't have to. We don't have to stand at the side of the road waiting for the AA. We don't have to wait nervously for the MOT. We don't have to pootle along if we don't have to. But we do. And we love it.

Because you can't go fast. That's why. Because you couldn't hurry if you tried. And that means you can stop and admire the view along the way, which was lovely. So it didn't matter that we arrived after dark. Cornwall was there when we woke up in the morning.

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About Me

Hello. I am a writer, surfer, keen shrimper and one time TV presenter. My books 'The Camper Van Cookbook' and 'The Camper Van Coast' are published by Saltyard Books and available all over the place. My TV show 'One Man and His Campervan' is available on itunes. I am 45, married with two kids, a dog and a red and white camper van. I like tea with milk but no sugar. There's more on www.martindorey.com